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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Give us some boots and lets do racing

Paul Hembery has confirmed that Pirelli is hoping to stay in Formula One for a number of seasons. The initial deal is for three years but Hembery expects to see the contract renewed.

"I think most people would think you need to do 8-10 years really in a sport to be able to activate your involvement in an activity right down to the point of sale" Hembery told ESPN last week "it would probably take a medium term agreement to allow you to really maximise the return on your investment."

The drivers, teams and governing bodies are sending out mixed messages with some sections looking for a return to the madness of the first races of last season where there was a total lack of understanding of the performance degradation.

Pirelli themselves believe they were too conservative in the final third of the season leading to a number of one-stop races.

I found the first third of last season very difficult as the tyres dictated the outcome rather than the car or the driver and would hate to see a return to that madness and uncertainty. For me F1 is all about the best driver/car combination so I want them to win straight off the bat and watch the other teams fight to catch them up. I don't care about teams exploiting the regulations to gain an edge, that for me is what it's all about. That is what enabled Williams to win in 1980 with their ground effect car, Brawn to win in 2009 having interpreted the regulations to incorporate their rear diffuser. it gave us the Fan car, and the six wheeler...for crying out loud it gave us aerodynamics in the form of front and rear wings.

Interpretation is everything in F1 and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Give us a set of working boots and lets do racing. No frippery just teams going head to head. Screw the fan who's only in it for the crashes and the overtaking, those a only a very small part of what F1 is all about. Racing doesn't have to be close to be good, it may be better if it is, but it is not essential.